PSU Football travels to Coast Guard

PLYMOUTH, N.H. - Plymouth State University and
the Coast Guard Academy will both be looking for their first win of
the season this Saturday when the two schools meet on the gridiron
at Cadet Memorial Field in New London, Conn.

The two programs have a lot in common besides 0-1 overall
records to start the season. Plymouth State and Coast Guard are
former members of the now-defunct Freedom Football Conference
(1992-2003), and both are the new entries in the New England
Football Conference for the 2006 campaign (PSU is in the Boyd
Division, CGA the Bogan Division). The teams will play a
home-and-home series this year and next as part of the standard
NEFC schedule.

This week's game can be heard live on the internet at
www.sportsjuice.com.

Plymouth State gave Mount Ida all it could handle in the season
opener last Saturday in Newton, Mass., but the Mustangs held on for
a 19-14 victory. PSU rallied from a 19-7 halftime deficit to pull
to within one score, and had a fourth-and-goal at the Mount Ida
one-yard line midway through the fourth quarter, but got stopped in
what was a pivotal play. The Panthers threatened again in the final
seconds but time ran out with PSU driving at the Mustangs' 25-yard
line. Mount Ida avenged the 31-20 setback to Plymouth State in the
final game of the 2005 season.

Coast Guard dropped its opener last Saturday at Kings Point in
the 26th annual Secretaries' Cup Championship, 21-7. The Bears were
down 7-0 at halftime and trailed 14-0 before scoring on a
three-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Coast Guard finished
2-7 overall last season when it was a member of the Liberty League,
and is looking to snap an eight-game losing streak dating back to
last September.

PSU has an 8-5 advantage in the career series against CGA. The
Bears won by one point in 2002 (34-33) and by 37 points in 2003
(49-12), the last two times the team met., but PSU had won the
previous four in a row. The first career meeting was in an ECAC
Championship game in 1988, won by Coast Guard, 28-19.

It will be NEFC divisional games the rest of the way for
Plymouth State. PSU faces the seven Boyd Division opponents the
next seven weeks -- UMass Dartmouth, Western New England College,
Endicott College, Nichols College, Curry College, MIT, and Salve
Regina University. The home opener at Currier Field is Sept. 23 vs.
UMass Dartmouth.

LAST WEEK: Sophomore FB John
DeMarco (Milford, N.H./Milford) turned in a solid
performance for PSU against Mount Ida, rushing for 100 yards on 18
carries and earning a spot on the NEFC Weekly Honor Roll. Senior QB
Tye Seastedt (Danville, N.H./Timberlane) completed
11-of-20 for 112 yards with two interceptions, while rushing 16
times for 64 yards and both Plymouth State touchdowns. He scored on
runs of 10 and five yards. Junior DT Jeff Ethier
(North Attleboro, Mass./Bishop Feehan) led the defense with six
tackles.

PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA: Senior SS Dan
Fallon (Manchester, N.H./Central), the team's leading
tackler the past three years, earned Football Gazette Pre-Season
All-America honors in 2006. The 2003 Freedom Football Conference
Rookie of the Year after a 72-tackle season, Fallon has recorded
back-to-back 77-tackle seasons, collecting four interceptions and
five fumble recoveries along the way.

NEFC: The NEFC has 16 teams in two divisions in
2006. The regular season includes one game against each member of
its own division and one contest against a team in the other
division. PSU and Coast Guard play each other in the cross over
game in 2006 and 2007. The NEFC concludes the regular season with a
championship game between the first-place teams from each division,
this year on Nov. 11, with the winner receiving an automatic berth
in the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament.

PSU IN THE NEFC: After beginning its football
program in 1970, Plymouth State was a member of the NEFC from
1971-91, winning or sharing nine titles in those 21 seasons. The
Panthers won or shared eight straight NEFC championships from
1981-88. PSU entered the 2006 season with the 11th-highest career
winning percentage (.633) among all NCAA Division III programs.

COACHING STAFF: PSU head coach Paul
Castonia is in his fourth season in charge of the
Panthers, and he has five veteran assistants returning -
Lou Desloges (defensive line), Mike
McLaughlin (Def. Coordinator/Def. Backs), Tom
Pabst (Offensive Line), Jeremy Roberts
(Running Backs) and Devin Zeman
(Linebackers/Special Teams). The new members of the staff include
Paul Hickey (Defensive Line Assst.) and
Jason McDermott (Receivers).